PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The clock is ticking. In just two weeks, Palm Beach County’s school board will make a decision that’s sparked passionate pleas from educators, concerned parents, and anxious community members. At stake: the future of teacher pay — and potentially hundreds of jobs.
WATCH BELOW: 'If you're thinking that teachers don't math, they math quite well,' Gordan Longhofer tells WPTV's Joel Lopez
Educators tell me their message is simple: higher salaries aren’t a luxury, they’re a necessity. But the district says giving those raises under its financial reality could mean cutting hundreds of positions and scaling back critical student services.
The Math… Isn’t Mathing?
Over the past week, I've been getting emails from teachers and parents.
They point to two main facts — thousands fewer students in local classrooms, and hundreds of current teacher job openings — and ask: why not take the money from those vacant positions and redirect it toward existing staff salaries?
"If you're thinking that teachers don't math, they math quite well," said Gordan Longhofer, the president of the Classroom Teachers Association.
Breaking Down the Numbers
Here’s what the district told WPTV last week: If teachers were to get a 3.5% raise, that money would have to come from somewhere. Their current calculation is that such a raise would require “significant” cuts to student services and the layoffs of 192 teachers.
For many in the classroom, that answer doesn’t add up.
"Some teachers have two or three jobs just to make ends meet. My hope is that you will dig deeper to get the full story," one teacher wrote, asking that I look into whether the budget gap could be bridged by eliminating long-vacant positions instead of cutting active employees.
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A Look at the Job Board
I went to the school district’s own job portal and typed in “teacher” under instructional positions for the coming school year. What came up was telling: 454 results.
Many of the educators who reached out to me believe this could be an untapped funding source.
In short, they argue: cut some of those still-listed openings you don’t truly expect to fill, and invest that money into the salaries of the teachers already in classrooms.
Is That Possible?
"Is it possible to eliminate those positions and then put that money into teacher salary?" I asked Longhofer.
His answer: "To a degree it absolutely is possible."
But he also added a layer of complexity.
"The question we will ask is in fact, are you considering or are you looking at the vacancies that are already out there in an effort to understand that maybe the 190, or so," Longhofer said, "that you think are going to happen actually are already absorbed by vacancies that have not yet been filled."
In other words, there may already be some overlap between potential layoffs and unfilled job postings — but how the district applies that math will answer that question.
WATCH: Teachers speak out over pay raises
The Enrollment Factor
The district’s larger budget challenge comes from declining enrollment. Officials say they’ve lost about 7,000 students, and with Florida’s funding tied to headcount, fewer students means less state money.
WPTV ran those numbers through data from the Florida Department of Education. The average class size in Florida is 22 students, meaning a 7,000-student drop translates to roughly 318 classrooms worth of students disappearing from the roster.
For Longhofer, that means this is exactly the moment to scrutinize where the district’s money is going.
"I think at the very least it begs a very careful analysis of where everything in the budget is going, where all of that money is being spent to ensure that we're getting the most bang for our buck for our teachers in the classroom, which we already know are the most invaluable assets to our schools," he said.
Cuts Ahead — And More to Come
District officials have already stated in a magistrate meeting that they’ll be making cuts in the next school year to reflect the lower enrollment and predict that number will keep dropping over the next three years.
Longhofer believes there’s room for creative solutions.
"I think the numbers are there and it looks like a circumstance that could be managed mathematically," he said.
The challenge now is whether that “managed mathematically” approach ends up meaning layoffs and reduced services, or targeted cuts to unfilled positions that protect both teachers and programs.
What Happens Next
WPTV has reached out to the School District of Palm Beach County to get its perspective on whether eliminating certain vacant positions is being considered as part of the solution.
The final salary meeting is scheduled for May 6, when board members are expected to vote on the plan.
Read more of WPTV's coverage below:
Education
Palm Beach County teachers demand higher pay at school board meeting
Education
Palm Beach County teachers dispute rejected pay raise and hearing
Education
Palm Beach County superintendent rejects 3.5% teacher pay increase
Education
These positions could be cut if school district approves 3.5% raise
This web story includes information gathered in part with the assistance of artificial intelligence. All facts have been reviewed and verified by WPTV staff before publication.
